A Moment is Forever
by mizzmitzy
Summary: Events can change our lives. Friends can too and sacrifices are sometimes unconscious.


A MOMENT IS FOREVER

(Author's Note: This is a simple wallow dedicated to those friends I would never have met – whether you like it or not!)

The street was almost empty, barring parked cars and pedestrians, the target clear, defined by gait and outline, even though his features were thrown into shadow from the burning sun at his back. A vehicle was the target's destination and to reach it he had to first cross the road, oblivious to the danger that lay in wait.

Attention focused elsewhere - to the companion chatting at his side - he stepped off the sidewalk. A short distance away an engine revved, the sound loud and alien in the morning air.

The car sped towards him.

There are moments in a life where everything changes, those indefinable, unpredictable seconds that can alter the world around you in ways that may not become apparent to you for years to come, or indeed – ever. These are the forks in the road, the results of paths taken and those to be formed.

On thinking back from where you are at this point in time you would find a string of incredible circumstances: all leading to the here, and the now. One may be able to list a few but you will never be able to calculate them all, or recall each and every crossroads at which you turned, the decisions made that determined your future and affected those of immeasurable numbers of people around you. They are defined only in the past; cannot be traced accurately for none of us can know what _might_ have been.

Your mind can only see a fraction of the twists and turns hidden in the hand of fate. It's like frosted glass; see-through but indistinct, the edges softened over the years until they are too faint to see at all. Your life is a complex network of roots – all stabilizing the tree above ground, allowing it to grow, but impossible to see below. Shoots everywhere and sprouting more each second; paths leading into the darkness. Hither and thither they grope blindly for purchase, climbing over one another - entangled – to become viable, useful and corporeal – to mean something.

Those people who understand best are the ones who have seen their potential alternate future; the survivors of disasters or recipients of good fortune for whom life would have been vastly different, or extinguished, were it not for a decision taken, or set of circumstances experienced. Perhaps one simple choice that stopped them taking the train that derailed, turning down the street where a mugger waited in the shadows, backing a winning sports team, missing a flight, a date, or hesitating one second too long to cross the road. These are the enlightened ones: those who know the value of choice, for their choices have created a visible outlook distinctly different from what might have been.

Can you imagine what life would be like if you had not done some of the things you have done? No spouse, family, job, wealth, friends, house, car, health, clothes, career or holiday – billions of choices, infinite paths, the whole of your personal universe within your grasp, and yet elusive.

Turn the page, answer the phone, open the letter – _or not_. Choices are what set us apart from one other, and draw us closer together.

For the most part we don't consciously understand we are controlling our fate, we just know after the fact.

The day the Chief of the special police unit, Five-0, met the young man who would become his second-in-command, was one such moment. The encounter of two strangers heralded a chapter in the history of Hawaii never to be forgotten. All things changed the minute Steve McGarrett set eyes on Danny Williams.

Because of that meeting a connection was forged that would enrich each other's life and affect countless more; bring them _ohana_ and true friendship.

Now, as the car careened towards them both, those scattered, shared moments layered throughout the fabric of their own personal history, came tumbling towards them, gathering speed and pulling each other in their wake. Their mutual past siphoned the events, whether shattering or peaceful, faster than light, rocket-like until they caught up with the present and made it theirs; triumphant in success.

If these two men had never met: if circumstances, however small and seemingly meaningless, hadn't conspired to lead them on this path, then today would look very different. The recipe was complex, the catalysts obscured by sheer weight of occurrences - but they were there - and this was today, thanks to fate or divine intervention, we will never know.

Right now one would probably be dead were it not for a million corridors in the - layered band of choice that surrounded their lives - all conspiring to create this outcome, to cross paths with one another in the past and lay the groundwork for the future.

An impeccable career record afforded a meeting that led to a greeting; a vacancy to a role, from there an understanding bred admiration and mutual respect. A social invitation accepted afforded a greater knowledge of one another that strengthened through stress, recreation and ordeal to fashion an unbreakable bond.

That bond lay steeped in hot blood, loyalty and carefree companionship and finally a willingness to unconsciously sacrifice one life for the other.

If they had never met, this scenario would not exist..and Danny Williams would not have stepped into the path of an oncoming vehicle to push his friend and superior officer to safety. One synaptic response extracted and calculated from a vast store of memories that could never be listed, ensured that seamless action forced his body to automatically respond. Adrenaline born of love and admiration surged through his veins and urged him to move - no time to think of consequences, just act. _Steve was in danger_!

When it became clear what was about to happen, the fresh-faced detective sprinted the short gap to his mentor, muscles tensing, mind crying out for it not to be in vain - not too late. Then he pushed McGarrett with all his strength to one side of the road and, he hoped, out of the path of the vehicle.

He even had time to brace for the agonizing impact he knew would be his reward, but the goal, if achieved, was to save the life of someone dear to him. Someone who, were past circumstances fractionally different, he may never have come to know but was grateful virtually every day of his life because he had.

He felt bones snap, was conscious of the slow motion flight through the air and coming to rest on unyielding ground. There was the sound of brakes squealing, someone screaming, the stench of rubber assaulting his nostrils, a haze invading his mind and the bruising results of the contact. Danny knew in that instant the world had changed again, another fork in the road, the end of which was dim and dreary as light faded but what his future would hold, he could not tell.

Voices called out to him but with encroaching darkness could not pinpoint who it was. He needed to know McGarrett wasn't hurt but found it hard to move, or stay aware. He had never considered he might be sacrificing himself; he simply acted, as he knew in his heart that Steve would do were the circumstances reversed.

Through good times and bad they stood back-to-back, not always of the same mind but always on the side of right. They came through it all and he learned much from his mentor and friend. That was all the motivation he had needed to make the choice he did.

The shock that had masked the results of the collision was wearing off enough for his nerve endings to register the pain now; it made him weep without meaning to - eyes watering automatically in response to the misery assaulting him.

Merciful darkness was spinning towards him, his vision receding. One blurred and very troubled, face obscured his sightline. It was McGarrett.

Warm, familiar hands reached out to him, trying to ease his suffering and ascertain the damage but he didn't care; he was shifting in the fabric of consciousness and shock was gradually overwhelming him.

"Glad…you're….okay..," He whispered and was gone. Passing out with unspoken words melting on his lips and an agonized expression on his face.

"Why did you do that, Danno?" McGarrett said—frustration, admiration, alarm and concern filtering through every word to the now unconscious friend lying injured on the road framed in blood. He wanted to shake him for his stupidity and then hug him to his chest. The horror of seeing Williams thrown from the hood of the vehicle was too fresh in his mind to do anything but stay by his side whilst the driver responsible, no doubt angry that he had missed the intended mark, sped off up the street. Unstoppable.

"_Why_..?" Steve asked again, teeth gritted against the emptiness and terror sifting through his brain.

_Because you were in danger_…the answer was plucked from the open air. In truth McGarrett had himself supplied the response because he knew without a shadow of doubt he would do the same if Danny had been the one at risk.

One moment in the vastness of time - they had met and this was the result.

Torment comes in many forms. To those of us who care, it can be the suffering of others that makes us weep. To those of us who care only for ourselves, the anguish is ours alone. No matter what form, it lays us low – distresses us, even if our outward appearance is composed and calm.

Steve McGarrett was not the type of man to appear out of control but with his best friend wounded after such a selflessly heroic action and no help in sight, he was knotted inside; wound like a coiled serpent and ready to strike anyone who spoke to him.

He didn't know the extent of his partner's injuries, just that Dan was coming out of a brief but merciful unconsciousness and hurting so badly that it was hard to witness his pain. He daren't touch him, there was no way of knowing what was broken inside; aside from his own aching heart. Whoever had set out to kill him would have succeeded in an altogether different way should Williams die – they would make a living wreck out of him, one bent on revenge. Eventually he would discover the person, or persons, responsible, whether behind the wheel or the hit and they would be sorry for the decision they made, **that** dangerous road taken would lead to their destruction. McGarrett would make it so.

He suddenly was struck with a vision of his second-in-command in shirt sleeves, holster at his hip, sitting on the edge of his desk in the office, grinning from ear to ear because of a joke he just made and Steve almost cried then, instead he clenched his grit-filled palms so tightly they bled. He wanted to turn back the clock and make him that person again, vital and whole. _He_ wanted to be the one hit by the car – not Danno. He felt responsible for him; he cared for his protégé, the little brother he never had before.

Looking at the blanched and broken young detective; whose present agony was hard to bear, he knew he wasn't ready to let him go. He felt surprisingly deep affection for the man who had managed to slip through the cracks of his steely outer shell. Danny gave him solid loyalty at work but with the unexpected benefits of a no-strings friendship that enhanced his personal life. He was so used to having him around that he was determined that fate would not strip him of that privilege. Danny would not die; not today and not for him – not if Steve McGarrett had his way and life had a way of listening to the tough cop whose heart was aching. Fate could not have brought them together as a team only to rip him from his side. This he avowed.

When the ambulance arrived all became a vast blur for both men, a sedative was administered to Danny and he was carefully strapped to a back board; immobilized until they could determine his injuries and for Steve it was as though the world had disappeared into a fog, his vision narrowing to only one person, one heartbeat. At this moment he could care less about who had done this, he cared more about his partner.

As Danny's weary eyes began to close they locked onto McGarrett's, seeking some strength outside of himself to bolster his failing body, but giving the older man a subliminal reassurance too – that if he could he would not go away. They shared the same wish and Steve would not leave his side.

All the wheels turn, the tumblers locking into place to bring you to a moment that will change your life, today Steve McGarrett's was saved and Dan Williams' was in peril – an unexpected result of time, memories, decisions and the hand of fate. It was the key to the past and the future – a friendship and love borne from respect, honesty, truth and bravery. Now his affection and determination would make Danny whole again – even if it took forever and required a thousand unknown paths to be taken. Danny would be well again.

Be grateful for your friends, the people who cross your path and those yet to become important to you – never take for granted a chance meeting, nurture those you value - for one day a former stranger may save _your_ life.

PAU


End file.
